Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a secondary battery transfer apparatus for transferring a secondary battery in a secondary battery manufacturing process and a method for detecting a loading defect of a secondary battery in a carrier receiving the secondary battery.
Description of the Related Art
As demand for mobile devices rapidly increases, demand for secondary batteries applied to mobile devices increases and thus technical research on secondary batteries is vigorously carried out.
In general, secondary batteries are rechargeable and may be small-sized and large-sized, and a lithium (Li) battery is representatively used as a secondary battery.
A secondary battery includes a battery cell and an electrolyte within a secondary battery case. The battery cell includes cathode and anode plates, which are formed of materials which may perform intercalation and deintercalation of lithium ions and alternately stacked, and separator films interposed between the cathode and anode plates so that the cathode and anode plates do not contact directly.
After the battery cell is inserted and the electrolyte is injected into a secondary battery case, the secondary battery is received in a carrier and transferred to a desired position for an additional process, such as sealing of the side surfaces of the case. Such receipt and transfer of secondary battery are carried out automatically.
During the process of receiving the secondary battery in the carrier, a secondary battery may be abnormally loaded in the carrier. In this case, the corner of the secondary battery case may contact the corner of the carrier and thus, the secondary battery case may be damaged or the shape of the secondary battery case may be deformed. Further, the electrolyte may leak to the outside of the secondary battery case due to damage to the secondary battery case and leakage of the electrolyte may cause secondary problems, such as explosion of the secondary battery.